Uh Oh Bango will be one of a number of new shooters for the Grade 3, $300,000 Rebel on March 13, which is the next local stop on the road to the Arkansas Derby. Trainer Kory Owens said the plan is for the horse to arrive here from Turf Paradise later this week.

Uh Oh Bango was freshened after his last start, the Grade 3, $750,000 Delta Jackpot on Dec. 4, in which he finished second by a neck to Rule. He battled through the stretch with Rule, who earlier this month was a big winner of the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs.

Trainer Terry Vance has been suspended six months by the Delta Downs board of stewards after one of his horses tested positive for the Class 2 drug Ractopamine. He has appealed the ruling, according to the stewards, and the case has been referred to the Louisiana Racing Commission. It is scheduled to be heard at the panel's meeting on March 1.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Dryfly is off the Arkansas Derby trail. Trainer Lynn Whiting said Tuesday the beginning of a stress fracture was diagnosed in the horse's left knee following his ninth-place finish in the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest at Oaklawn last Saturday.

Dryfly was the race's second choice off his sharp score in last month's $100,000 Smarty Jones. He stalked at hot pace into the final turn of the Southwest, but retreated in the later stages. Whiting said the horse emerged from the race with pressure in the upper joint of his knee.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Richard Mandella watched the 2009 Kentucky Derby in a condition somewhere between amazement and shock.

Mine That Bird, who had been trained by Mandella for one race the preceding winter before being sold, was storming home in a 50-1 upset for trainer Chip Woolley.

"He was great that day," Mandella said. "How do you expect a horse to run like that?"

This year, the Hall of Fame trainer wants to take his own chance at the Kentucky Derby, perhaps with Setsuko, who starts in Saturday's $150,000 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.

ALBANY, Calif. - After his victory in Saturday's , Connemara looks headed to the Santa Anita Derby on April 3. Plans are not as solid for second- and third-place finishers Haimish Hy and Posse Power.

Connemara won for the third time in four starts on Saturday and avenged his lone defeat, which had come in his previous start, the California Derby.

"I think he moved up in our rankings," said trainer Todd Pletcher's assistant Mike McCarthy, who confirmed the Santa Anita Derby is the likely next start for Connemara.

The $75,000 Manitoba Derby and the $50,000 Assiniboia Oaks will be the anchors on the Aug. 2 stakes tripleheader, which will be the biggest day of the 2010 meeting at Winnipeg's Assiniboia Downs.

The 1 1/8-mile Manitoba Derby for 3-year-olds and the one-mile Assiniboia Oaks for 3-year-old fillies will be joined on the holiday Monday program by the $30,000 Graduation at 5 1/2 furlongs for 2-year-olds.

Turf Paradise canceled Tuesday's program due to unsafe track conditions created by recent heavy rains in the Phoenix area. This was the third consecutive card that had to be scrapped and the seventh of the meet due to weather.

Racing is set to resume Friday, with first post at 1 p.m.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - The live racing season in Nebraska gets under way Friday as Fonner Park opens for a 31-day season that runs through May 8. The meet will be four days shorter than a year ago, as four Sunday cards have been cut from the schedule but the number of weekends of racing remains the same.

Trainer Kelly Breen said Bickersons is right on target for Saturday's Grade 2 Davona Dale. Bickersons, who dominated the seven-furlong Old Hat here last month, worked a half-mile in 48.20 seconds at Palm Meadows on Sunday.

"She worked fabulous," said Breen. "The track was dead but she finished great, looks good and is right on schedule for Saturday."

The Davona Dale is coming up one of the best races with the meet with Bickersons topping a field that is also expected to include Amen Hallelujah, Sassy Image, Joanie's Catch, and Christine Daae.

Trainer Nick Zito said he was pleased with the efforts of both his horses in the Fountain of Youth. Jackson Bend finished second after taking a valiant run at the winner around the second turn, while Ice Box checked home fifth following a slow start and wide trip.

Zito said Ice Box would likely return in the Florida Derby, while Jackson Bend will get more time and be pointed to the Grade 1 Wood.